Caracas, Venezuela, Jun 15, 2004 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Archbishop Jorge Urosa of Valencia, Venezuela, told Catholics this past weekend they should value their faith and consider themselves “privileged” for having a life of hope.

“We should feel proud of being Catholics, of the wonders of joy of our Catholic identity. We are privileged to have so many gifts that the Lord constantly bestows on us,” the Archbishop said during the celebration of Corpus Christi.

“We live almost oblivious to these things. We don’t give them much importance and we just take for granted that we are Catholics, that we have been baptized, that Jesus is in the tabernacle waiting always for us to comfort us, to encourage us to live a holy life,” he said.

The Archbishop added, “There are many people who think their lives are without hope. How wonderful that we have faith in Christ our Lord! It is a gift from God that we should be grateful for and value and say: I am Catholic and proud of it. I value Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.”

During the Mass celebrated in the Church of Saint Anthony, Archbishop Urosa reflected on the importance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and called St. Anthony of Padua an “example of commitment to Jesus Christi, of faithfulness to His word.”

The archbishop emphasized that the Eucharist is one of “the most wonderful miracles of the love and power of God. It is the miracle of Our Lord Himself, the God of heaven and earth, becoming our nourishment so we can continue on our journey in this life until our goal of eternal salvation and to be able to participate forever in the banquet of the Kingdom of God.”

The word of Jesus Christ cannot deceive, but rather is always fulfilled, he added.

“The word of Christ is certain and powerful, therefore when we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion, we know we are not receiving a wafer. We are receiving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is the way, the truth and the life, our savior, the light of the world,” he said.